Rescue Me
by skywolf666
Summary: SheLloyd. She would hide her tears and urge him forwards, knowing that in the depths of her soul she would always need his aid to walk. He would stand and watch her slip away from him, her life dangling from his very fingertips. How could he let her go?


"Move, move!" Lloyd yelled, shoving Genis forward as the charge of mana overhead threatened to fade out at any second. He could hear Sheena shouting in effort but with an iron force of will did he manage to block out her voice. Presea had Raine by the hand, half helping half-dragging the professor across the bridge, Genis and Lloyd following close behind.

"We're through!" Presea called from somewhere up ahead, and Lloyd gave Genis another shove towards her voice, turning back at the edge of the bridge towards the surge of energy that was distracting the remnants of the tree overhead. Though he had never prided himself or attempted to be the leader, he gave his command now, knowing they would listen to him. "Go, I'll be right behind you with Sheena, go!"

They gave no arguments, simply ran on ahead and left him behind, hoping, or perhaps even praying, that he would be truthful. Lloyd scanned the cloud of dust that was obscuring his vision, ignoring the hum of the warp panel behind him. There was pain in his chest, Regal's sacrifice had yet to fully sink into him but beyond that pain there was grief, Zelos' betrayal still hadn't been digested either. He shoved the emotions away, he could think about them later. Adrenalin had made time slow down in his brain, and his main focus was on the summoner who he still couldn't see.

"EAT THIS!" He heard her scream and there was an explosion that nearly knocked the red-clad swordsman off his feet. There was an earth-shattering roar that broke the moment of fragile silence, followed by a crashing as the remnants of the tree broke loose of their hold on the ceiling and plummeted down onto the bridge.

For a heart-stopping moment, Lloyd was certain that the bridge could take the weight of the fallen pieces, but it buckled with a shrieking sound and the stone fell into the darkness, quickly vanishing from sight. Shaken but not broken from his goal, he saw her standing on the opposite end of the chasm, completely coated in dust and blood, but looking no worse for the wear. Cupping a hand around his mouth, he yelled for her.

"Sheena! Are you okay?!"

"Yeah..." She called back, voice hoarse and body trembling. Sheena coughed, then turned her face away from him, spitting out blood. 'Ughn...' Her entire body felt as though it was going to fall apart at any moment, her mana was nearly depleted. With a muffled groan of pain, she forced a smile to her face and teased half-heartedly, "I'm alright, did you seriously think a little explosion would hurt me?"

Lloyd let out an audible sigh of relief, feeling the tension in his shoulders melting away almost instantly at her teasing voice. She sounded completely spent and though he could tell she was forcing the cheer, she truly was alright. 'Thank you Martel...' He had never seen her look so focussed before, or so intent, the fire in her eyes the moment she told him to run gave him a glimpse into the soul he'd been aching to see. Lighter, but not really realizing why, he teased back, "That was amazing!"

"Just don't ask me to do it again, okay?" Sheena smiled slightly, embarrassed but pleased by the awe and relief in his voice. Her arms dangled limply at her sides, she was completely spent of mana, and she could taste blood on her tongue from where she'd bit it when the explosion knocked her backwards. Yet she still found the strength to smile at his words. "I'm gonna rest for just a little, that drained all my mana, I'm exhausted!"

She relaxed for a moment, one crucial moment that could have possibly given her a chance to dodge but she wasn't fast enough. A root surged up from the dark abyss between them, wrapping itself tightly around her ankle. It pulled hard, Sheena heard the bone pop out of place and cried out in agony as it dragged her over the edge. Her hands were gouged on the rocks she scrambled desperately against, searching for something, anything to grab a hold of.

Her fingers touched a vine, one solitary vine growing out from the outcropping and instinctively her hand closed around it. The pull of the vine on her foot was intense, she could almost hear the muscles in her leg screaming for mercy from the strange pressure. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she held on tight, willing the agony away from her mind so she could stay clear and focussed.

Lloyd had frozen for one split second and watched in terror as the limb closed around her ankle and proceeded to yank her down, intent on dragging her into oblivion as he stared helplessly. The world sharpened to one point then in that same instant, he saw and thought of nothing else but that dark-haired woman that had come to him in Flanoir just one week ago to ease his mind. In the very next beat he cried out, that point striking him so intensely there was a terror that he couldn't name in his mind. "SHEENA!"

Hr body had been flopped and dragged like a rag doll down the face of the wall, he cringed each time he heard the sound of her soft body striking the solid stone. She grabbed onto something he couldn't see and held on tight, her face pressed against the wall, her entire body trembling like a leaf in the wind. He yelled again, desperate to hear her voice, to know that despite all of what he'd just saw, that she was okay. "Sheena, answer me, are you alright?! Sheena!"

"Hah... Haha... Hahaha!" She felt it break, though she wasn't entire sure what 'it' was as it snapped with an audible sound inside of her chest. She started to laugh even as the tears of pain and something else began to sting in her eyes and her heart moaned in anguish. Her mind already knew what was to come and her very soul screamed in denial as she accepted her fate. 'I'm such an idiot... How could I be stupid? Hehe... Hehehe...'

"What the..." Lloyd was stunned, her body was still shaking but now it was with laughter, irrepressible, irrational, and nearly hysterical laughter. Her face wasn't turned towards him so he couldn't read her telltale expression, but something in his blood had frozen. The laughter was pure enough, he had heard it enough times to know when she forced her amusement, but there was still a foreboding that was making him cringe. "What's wrong with you? Why the hell are you laughing?"

"N-No..." Sheena managed between her giggles, pressing her face against the cool rocks to try and ease the heat in her cheeks as the blush came naturally to her. It all seemed so familiar to her, painfully so even, and she couldn't stop giggling. She could see his dumbstruck expression that she'd always found so inexplicably adorable in her mind's eye, and that only increased her laughter. Even though her life dangled so close to death's reach, she found herself strangely calm, acceptant, and it allowed her to laugh. Turning her head, she smiled weakly at him, hoping he could read what she wanted to portray in her face. Her voice was strained as she tried to adjust herself, but it only resulted in the pulling growing harder on her already injured ankle, so she didn't try to move as she explained "I'm just... I'm just remembering the time when we first met. Looks like I've got a strong affinity for falling into holes..."

Lloyd stiffened immediately at the sight of her pain, and his eyes moved swiftly over the face of the rock. The distance was great, but he didn't doubt he could make the jump if he took a running leap and used his favoured Tempest attack. The vine was thick, but he knew it would only take a few more movements, a short few minutes and then it would snap, possibly dragging her to her death. His world was still sharpened to that point, he felt nothing else but his fear for her. It wasn't a promise he was making to himself as he planned out millions of ways to save her, it was nothing short of stating facts. 'I'm going to save her.' "Hang on, I'll be right there! Don't move too much, alright?"

Sheena moaned softly to herself, the words were sweet to her ears and she could feel something aching as it tried to reach out and grab onto those words, to hold them close to her heart. She controlled that part of herself though, locking it away under the layers of pain and jealousy she had been fighting for so long. She could see his eyes, the warm adust eyes that she had long ago fallen so deeply in love with. 'I'll miss those eyes.' They were cold and weary, but she could see he was calculating ways to get her out of the mess. With a ferocity that was created by her emotions and stubborn attitude, she snapped at him even though the words burned in her mouth as she spoke them, "Don't worry about me you idiot! Just hurry up and go rescue Colette!"

"_I won't let you hurt her!"_

'Colette...?' Lloyd froze and his sharpened image of the world began to grow again, and he saw his comrades faces in the corners of his vision. They seemed oddly small compared to Sheena as he stared at her, and he could feel only the slightest of tugs at his heart as his childhood friend's name rang repeatedly in his ears. Yes, to rescue Colette. That was why he was there. Shaking off the sudden and strange chill her words left him with, he snapped back, "This is not the time to act all tough Sheena! I'm going to get you out of there!" 'I have to!'

"I'm not acting you moron! It's just like the last time when I climbed out of the bottom of that pit and took you and everybody else on!" Sheena yelled, wishing that the tears in her eyes would quit blinding her vision. She wanted to see him, she wanted to focus on that warm face that haunted her dreams yet made her yearn for the morning just so she could remember that she wasn't as alone as she feared. Maybe she wouldn't see the warmth she ached for in those boyish yet mature adust eyes, but she would never wish to not be able to see them. Turning her head despite her wants, she refused to let him see her cry for the love she knew she would lose but still couldn't speak of even as her life was dangling at the end. "This time, I won't miss the main event!"

Lloyd didn't move though he felt that tug again, a little stronger than last time, more insistent. His feet were almost melted into the floor, his eyes glued to her slim body that stood out harshly against the brown and grey cliff wall she clung to. Her words were reckless, and he knew that bravado, but he didn't believe her. He knew without truly knowing that if he left, there was a great chance he would never see her again. "Sh-Sheena..."

"Stop stalling, go!" Sheena yelled, losing her patience as her eyes continued to sting. She knew she only had a little time before she began to cry, she could already hear the vine beginning to splinter as she held on to it. 'I can't let him see me like this... I just can't.' He still wasn't moving, seeming to have been struck into motionlessness. She urged him silently, desperate to have her thoughts reach him, to reach anyone who could make him move. 'Go you idiot, go! I can't let you watch me die here, you stupid swordsman!' "The others need you to lead them, you're wasting time standing here! GO!"

"Sheena..." Lloyd began again, but her dark glare cut him off. Her lips were curled into a fierce scowl but the emotion didn't match her tear-filled eyes. The pull was growing stronger, but it was still eclipsed by some emotion he couldn't name, a magnetic force that made it nearly impossible to move. His limbs felt weak as he took one single step backwards, away from her and towards his remaining comrades. 'Can I honestly... Can I honestly leave her here...? After... After everything...?'

"_Right? You and I think a lot alike Sheena! I think we could become great friends."_

"_Great... Friends."_

"GO!"

"I... I..." He didn't know what he wanted to sa, what he wanted her to know as his legs began to pull him away from her. He couldn't force his eyes away from hers, lost in the warm topaz he had come to admire deeply over the past few months. The eyes he had seen twinkle with laughter, darken with hatred and sadness, eyes he could never hide himself from. 'I can't...' His throat was tight as he tried to turn away, to avoid seeing her face as he uttered the words pathetically, "I'll be waiting for you... Sheena..."

She watched as he turned his back on her, racing off towards the warp panel. He vanished from her sight after a moment, and she could hear the whirring sound the panel made as it transported him away from her. Bowing her head, Sheena let out a final, bitter, laugh. Her hand was aching in pain as she held on, and she knew she barely had much time left. "Heh... I'm so stupid, stubborn to the very end... I really ought to let him rescue me... Heh...That wouldn't be my style, now would it...?"

Glancing down into the darkness of the hole below her, she felt her stomach clench in fear. She saw no bottom, she hadn't heard the tree's remains crash either when it had fallen. 'If I let go... I am going to die...' She closed her eyes tightly trying to banish the fear from her mind. 'I'm... I'm going to die proud. My friends... They'll live on... Lloyd... He'll...'

"I wish... I wish I could've told him..." Sheena mumbled to herself, feeling the salty tears trickling down her cheeks, finally free to be released. The mingled with blood, stinging her wounds but she ignored that too, anguish surging swift and strong through her entire body. Biting her lower lip until it bled, she whispered raggedly to herself as her grip began to loosen, "I wish I could have told him how I felt... Good luck... Lloyd..." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to steady herself. Her hand loosened slowly, she could feel herself slipping, then it was gone from her grasp and she could hear the wind howl in her ears as she began to plummet into the darkness.

The wind's howl turned into a scream and she felt her arm suddenly jerk upright and the fall stopped as quickly as it had started. Looking up sharply, she saw a very familiar blade stuck through her sleeve and buried deep into the rock. Knowing that the fabric of her kimono couldn't possibly hold for very long, she glanced up in alarm to see a red-clad figure flipping over the chasm with a snarl.

Lloyd hit the ground running, throwing himself at the edge and lowering his upper half of his body over it. Reaching down, he caught her by the free arm and held onto it tightly. She stared at him in complete alarm, but he was moving too swiftly for her to even form his name. Gritting his teeth and grunting with effort, he reached with his free hand to take out his remaining blade, hissing to her, "Hide your face, now!"

Sheena followed his orders and hid her face in the wall, mouth moving silently to form a prayer. She heard him yell out the name of one of his most basic attacks, sending a shockwave of energy past her to cut the root that was wrapped around her ankle. It snapped with a loud cracking noise, and she felt the sword pinning her to the cliff's wall slice through her sleeve. His hand caught her before she had a chance to fall again, yanking her over the edge and safely tossing her onto the ground.

"Lloyd!" Sheena cried out as she caught a glimpse of his body tipping over the edge. She moved instinctively, grabbing him by the back of his shirt with both hands, ignoring the stinging pain from the gashes in her palm. With a groan of pain she pulled, willing her tired body to save the one person that held her world.

He reappeared, the force her pull dragging the swordsman on top of her. They lay on the ground, panting loudly, unable to move as they attempted to recover. He could feel her entire body shivering underneath his as her arms wound tightly around his back to clutch him close, gasping into his chest. Very slowly he placed his hands on the ground on either side of her middle, glancing into her terrified face. His voice was rough when he finally got it back, and he muttered quietly, "Are you okay...?"

The blow to his jaw was unexpected but not as hard as he knew it could be. With a muffled grunt he fell backwards into a sitting position, but before he had time to recover she had thrown herself into his arms, beating with closed fists onto his chest as she yelled at him. "You _idiot_! Why did you do that?! You could've _died_! Are you stupid!?"

Lloyd chuckled weakly, closing his eyes and winding his arms around her. She stopped hitting him, her head bowed and her entire body trembling with surprising force. He could feel her tears falling onto his jacket, but he ignored it and continued to hold her close. 'Sheena...' Pressing his face against her fragrant hair, he whispered, "I know I could've died... You could've died too if I left you behind..."

"Don't you get it, moron!? I couldn't have cared less!" Sheena exploded, her face crimson even as the tears flowed unheeded down her face. The emotion ran through her with reckless abandon, screaming at her to do too many things at once. Shoving herself out of his arms, she grabbed him roughly by the front of his jacket. She reacted out of pure instinct, the care for him warring with her anger at loss of pride. "Why would it matter if I died!? You would have lived! That's the whole point of things!"

"No, stupid, that's not the point of things at all." Lloyd corrected her gently, loosening her shaky hold on him before enveloping her in another hug. She didn't fight him but her trembling increased to a violent shaking that made him hold her all the tighter. He couldn't feel the rage that had made him turn around, that had made him yank her over the edge with a strength and desperation he didn't know he had possessed. It was gone and replaced with a warm emotion that told him to hold her and possibly never let her go. "I couldn't leave you behind, don't you understand? That would be like leaving part of myself behind. If I lost you... What point would there be in anything?"

"The regenerated world?" Sheena asked him with raised eyebrows, folding her arms across her middle in an attempt to stop her shaking. Though his words brought on a ray of hope she had been trying to smother, she forced herself to think logically. "How's that for a point?"

"What's the point of regenerating the world if you're not there to live in it beside me?" Lloyd asked quietly, gently placing a hand under her chin to lift her face. Tears were still coursing down her cheeks, and with his free hand he brushed them away. The tears didn't bother him as much as he had thought they would, the concern was gone, replaced by a strange calm. There was no possibility of her being harmed now. 'Not while I'm here. I won't let her get hurt, I won't let her die...' "I can't lose you Sheena. You're dear to me."

Sheena paused, taken aback by the gentle words he used in the serious tone. Her face reddened a hue and she took a deep breath to stop her heart from leaping through her ribcage. Forcing her mind to slow so she wouldn't jump to conclusions, she mumbled almost bitterly, "Yeah... Great friends, I know..."

"Sheena, you mean more to me than that. Why do you think I came back here?" Lloyd asked her with a shake of his head, not liking her bitter tone. He hadn't understood it until he had to turn his back, until he'd seen the sorrow-filled eyes of the teammates he'd joined again. 'It... It was too painful... To not feel her beside me anymore... I need her with me... by my side...' "I... I need you here with me Sheena... By my side, always. It's... It's painful to imagine my journey... my life... without you."

"L-Lloyd...?"

Lloyd's hands were gentle as they closed on hers, and slowly he got to his feet and helped her to stand as well. He watched in surprise as her left leg nearly buckled and he instinctively wound his arm around her waist to keep her upright. "Hey... Your ankle, is it broken?"

"I don't know... " Sheena winced as she attempted to put pressure on the foot. Cringing away from the pain, she took a sharp breath and held Lloyd's arm to become steady. With a weak sigh, she let him hold her, ignoring the embarrassment, and pleasure, that came with his embrace. "It hurts a bit, but... I think I'll be okay if I go see Raine soon..."

"Can you fight?"

"H-Huh...?" Sheena blinked, looking up to see the fierce resolve in his eyes and the set of his jaw. She smiled, understanding his plan without his explanation. 'Of course... He's going to get Regal then join up with the others while they clear a path to the next panel...' She grinned at him, ignoring the ache in her ankle as her hand slid into her sleeve to extract her battle card. "I can always fight. Let's go save Regal."

Lloyd nodded, a small smile gracing his features at her reckless smile and defiant glint in her topaz eyes. 'When did I start caring about you so much, Sheena...?' Turning back towards the warp panel that would take them to Regal, he glanced to his left where Sheena stood beside him, aware of the completion that made him feel at ease. It had vanished the moment he'd stepped away from her, the moment he'd given into her request to leave her behind. As they walked together towards the panel, he inwardly muttered, 'Never again... I will never again let her go away from my side...'

'Thank you Lloyd... Th-Thank you...'

**AN**

**Not one of my best works, not gonna lie XD It's not any better than "In the Darkness, I See You" which wasn't very good to begin with XD But anyway... It was important to me to do my own rewrite of this scene, which always bugged me in ways I can't express, I guess it's because by the Farewell arc, you've already "chosen" your soulmate... You'd figure that with your soulmate already chosen, there'd be Lloyd saving them somehow from the trap because of how much they would, or did, mean to him. But that's just me... XD Review if you feel the need, thanks for putting up with the break from Jealousy too XD There's still plenty more to come from me, promise!**

**Sky**


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